Saturday, January 20, 2007

Temperatures Rising, Climate Knowledge Dropping

And the records just keep falling -- 2006 was the warmest year ever recorded in the United States.That news comes as the Bush administration's scientifically dubious missions to the Moon and Mars force NASA to slash its earth sciences budget, as another agency struggles in its climate analysis. According to the Washington Post, "As a result, the [National Academy of Sciences] panel said, the United States will not have the scientific information it needs in the years ahead to analyze severe storms and changes in Earth's climate unless programs are restored and funding made available."But there's good news from California, where Gov. Schwarzenegger continues to show some of the strongest (no pun intended) leadership in the country on climate change issues, telling gas producers to cut their product's carbon emissions by 10 percent. The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers defended its inaction by saying, "Currently there are more than nine million alternative-fuel automobiles on the road." Yes, since roughly three perfect of the cars on America's roads are flexfuel cars that are capable of using alternative fuels (but usually don't), that absolves the car & fuel industries of any additional need for change. Right.